‘Everything is translation’ — 13th Book Arsenal festival in Kyiv to bridge gaps between language and war
The 13th Book Arsenal festival, one of Ukraine’s premier interdisciplinary cultural events attracting voices from across the country and around the globe, will take place in Kyiv from May 29 to June 1.
Over the course of four days, the festival offers a number of discussion panels, book presentations, public interviews, and even some film and musical performances that all relate to the theme of this year’s festival.
This year’s program is curated by American historian Marci Shore and Ukrainian journalist Oksana Forostyna, who together have shaped the events of the festival around the theme “Everything is Translation.”
The theme invites both participants and attendees to explore the untranslatable — and to consider what the gaps in language reveal about the invisible boundaries between cultures, perspectives, and human experience, particularly in times of war.
Each year, the festival’s curators choose a theme that reflects the cultural climate. Last year’s Book Arsenal, the first to take place since the start of the full-scale war, was centered around the theme “Life on the Edge.” In the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, the 2021 theme was “Optimistis-Skeptics.”
“One of the most important tasks for the festival's team now is to create the safest and most inclusive festival space possible,” Yuliia Kozlovets, the director of Book Arsenal, told the Kyiv Independent.
“The theme of war is a cross-cutting one, when stands of military and volunteer initiatives are an organic part of the festival space. Because this is our Ukrainian contemporary culture, and this is our life today.”
For this year’s festival, the Kyiv Independent joins Book Arsenal as an official media partner, further underscoring its commitment to fostering critical dialogue and elevating Ukrainian voices on the world stage.
Several of the Kyiv Independent’s team members — editor-in-chief Olga Rudenko, chief executive officer Daryna Shevchenko, War Crimes Investigation Unit reporter Danylo Mokryk, and culture reporter Kate Tsurkan — will take part in panel discussions at this year’s Book Arsenal festival.
The full schedule for this year’s Book Arsenal is available on the festival’s website.
While events featuring international speakers on the main stage will be held in English, most of the program will be conducted in Ukrainian. However, several Ukrainian publishers — including Ukraїner, Projector, Rodovid, IST Publishing, and #knygolove — will offer a selection of their books in English translation for purchase.
Mystetskyi Arsenal’s art books, which highlight Ukraine’s artistic heritage, showcase prominent contemporary artists, and document experimental projects on key cultural movements, will also be available in bilingual Ukrainian-English editions.
The official opening of this year’s Book Arsenal festival is scheduled for 5 p.m. on May 29, but attendees can begin to enter the premises of Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv’s National Art and Culture Museum Complex, from 4 p.m.
Tickets for the festival can be purchased online or at the ticket counter at Mystetskyi Arsenal – either 200 hryvnias ($5) for a one-day ticket of 500 hryvnias ($12) for all four days of the festival.
Notable events
(in English unless otherwise stated):
- Panel discussion “Everything is Translation” featuring Ukrainian poets Iya Kiva and Ostap Slyvynsky, and Polish poet ariel rosé, moderated by Swedish literary critic Carl Henrik Fredriksson. Taking place at 6 p.m. on May 29, the conversation will explore how translation can be used as a tool against imperialism, particularly in times of war.
- French journalists Doan Bui and Emmanuel Carrère will join several Ukrainian colleagues for a unique live performance at 8 p.m. on May 29 — a staged retelling of powerful wartime journalism from local and international reporters, photographers, and artists.
- On May 30, Danylo Mokryk from the Kyiv Independent’s War Crimes Investigations Unit will speak on the panel “Reportage as Investigation: A Conversation on the Practice of Long-Form Reporting,” alongside Magdalena Sodomkova. Moderated by Tetiana Pushnova, the event is organized in partnership with the Czech Centre in Kyiv and will begin at 2:30 p.m.
- The Kyiv Independent’s editor-in-chief Olga Rudenko and culture reporter Kate Tsurkan will join Ukrainian author Myroslav Laiuk in the panel discussion “War of Narratives. Do We Have Anything to Counter Russian Influence on the Vision of This War Abroad?” Moderated by Julia Tymoshenko, the event will take place in Ukrainian on May 30 at 6 p.m.
- The Kyiv Independent’s chief executive officer Daryna Shevchenko will moderate a panel titled “The Ukrainian Narrative: A Strategic Script. How to Speak Effectively About Ukraine Abroad?” Scheduled at 7 p.m. on May 30, the discussion will feature Viktoriia Narizhna, Vira Kuryko, Halyna Skipalska, and Olha Kari, and is co-organized by the Kyiv Independent.
- On June 1 at 3 p.m., British journalist Peter Pomerantsev will discuss his new book “How to Win the Information War?” in conversation with Olga Rudenko.
- Founder of Spravdi Liubov Tsybulska will also speak with American journalist Simon Shuster on the topic “How a book can change the attitude toward Ukraine on the world stage” on June 1 at 5 p.m.